Beach lifeguard first aid

Throughout history the beach has been identified as a popular site of recreation and community leisure [1]. While a visit to the beach is generally viewed as indicative of a healthy lifestyle, it does have its attendant risks – the omnipresent threat of drowning being the most obvious. A modern phenomenon in many countries has been the provision of lifeguard services primarily charged with the role of preventing drowning. A study of lifesaving experts agreed that the lifeguard service was the single most important component on a beach that could prevent injuries and accidents [2]. While this role remains the raison d’etre for such provision, a secondary role related to the provision of non- drowning, primary medical care has emerged as an adjunct to the task of drowning prevention. For example, in the five years from 2007 to 2012, Surf Life Saving New Zealand (SLSNZ) reported that lifeguards provided first aid treatment to almost 9000 beachgoers, an average of 1772 cases per annum – more than the average number of rescues (n = 1343) performed each year [3]. In spite of this emergent, and in some cases, increasing responsibility of beach lifeguards, little is known about the nature of beach injuries or medical conditions necessitating first aid at the beach. It is the purpose of this chapter to review what is known about lifeguard first aid by using available evidence from selected countries where first aid knowledge and practice is a part of everyday life-guarding and where there is a public expectation that such a role be performed on the front line at the beach by lifeguards.